


first steps

by haetae



Series: wanderer from the steppe [4]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Developing Friendships, F/M, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, Platonic Female/Male Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-30
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-09-02 11:48:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16786375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haetae/pseuds/haetae
Summary: Masaki settles down in the Waking Sands as well as a soldier might settle in the middle of a battlefield.So Minfilia is the one to reach out to him.





	first steps

Masaki settles down in the Waking Sands as well as a soldier might settle in the middle of a battlefield.

He’s a bit  _ too _ suspicious and jumpy around men larger than him. Every attempt to communicate with him is met with confusion, silence, and frustration until it slowly becomes apparent that he might be mute. After that, everyone becomes a bit more… sympathetic towards his plight—which, somehow, only exacerbates relations even more. It doesn’t help that none of them have quite interacted with an Au Ra of his like before.

If there’s anything positive about this, he seems to do very well in missions. But it’d be nice if he could interact with the Scions outside of such tense situations… 

So Minfilia is the one to reach out to him.

She knocks on the door twice, clearly and succinctly, and clears her throat.

“Masaki? Are you there?”

Minfilia waits patiently for a few moments before Masaki’s door cracks open to a tall Au Ra hovering uncertainly at the handle.

“I just wanted to check in,” she bursts out, suddenly. Both she and Masaki cringe. This… is turning out  _ wonderfully _ . Minfilia tries again, calming her jittered nerves and offering a soft smile to her newest recruit. “I know settling in someplace new must be hard. Would you like to have some tea with me?”

Masaki stares at her. The silence between them stretches out on the verge of awkward until suddenly—

“Muk tea?” 

Minfilia blinks. 

“Pardon?”

Masaki fidgets. He looks down as a tinge of red dusts his cheeks.

“… Mm… do… you have… milk tea?”

His voice is craggy, soft, and heavily accented but Minfilia can understand him.

Her smile widens.

“Of course.”

To be honest, it’s a little surprising when a large Auri man slinks out of his room and huddles by her side when they walk to her office. Minfilia finds it strange that Masaki can singlehandedly take down the Lord of the Flames and still act like… well, the complete opposite of a hardened warrior outside battle. She has a bad feeling but she quashes it for now as she opens the door and allows Masaki in.

He slips in with the grace of a rogue—which is not at  _ all _ what she expects of a thaumaturge studying in Ul’dah—and claims a seat closest to the door.

Minfilia attempts some small talk to fill up the space as she fills a large teapot with water.

“How have things been for you in the past few days? I know that some of the missions you’ve been on were quite difficult and I wanted to be sure that you’re doing alright—especially after your battle with Ifrit.”

Masaki shrugs nonchalantly and hunches over his knees. 

“Do you usually use sign to communicate?” she tries instead. 

That elicits an actual response from Masaki—he looks up startled with a hanging jaw and eyebrows raising to his hairline. But the Au Ra nods all the same and a relieved smile softens his face. Minfilia realizes this must be the first time she’s ever seen him smile so freely. It brings a smile to her face too.

Masaki brings up his hands and gestures (with no small amount of exasperation)—“I was wondering if I would ever find someone who knew how to sign.”

Minfilia giggles and hooks the teapot over the hearth fire before making her way to her seat. 

Her signing is a lot less fluid than Masaki’s but she gets her point across all the time, helpfully aided by talking in conjunction. 

“To be honest, I was worried about you.” she admits, “since I notice that others have a hard time talking to you.”

Masaki jerks back with an astonished look writ across his face.

“I thought they were making fun of me…” he confesses, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Minfilia shakes her head.

“They were not. I promise, they mean well.”

She hesitates for a moment. Then she carefully reaches out and curls her fingers loosely over the back of Masaki’s hands. He stares at her hand as if he’s never seen it before glancing up at Minfilia with wide eyes.

“I want you to feel safe here, Masaki.”

He blinks at her. Then something sad flashes across his eyes and an equally sad smile tugs at his lips.

“Th’nk you.” he murmurs, curling a larger hand over hers and squeezing gently.

Minfilia feels like she’s missed something here but then the teapot whistles.

She pulls away gently to retrieve the tea.

When she returns, Masaki appears more at ease with himself in her office and doesn’t hunch over his knees. She thinks this is great progress while she goes about preparing tea for the both of them. When she returns to her desk, Masaki perks up and offers another small but genuine smile. He takes his mug with a whispered  _ thanks _ and sips.

Minfilia sips her own as she considers Masaki thoughtfully.

“Do you mind telling me about your home? I’ll admit I’m a bit curious…”

Masaki looks at her with a grin quirking his mouth.

He sets his mug down to tell a story about the Steppes.

**Author's Note:**

> ;w; i think of minfilia and masaki as like platonic soulmates and i wanted to try and explore their relationship from the very beginning....


End file.
